This invention relates to an assembly for use in cutting a bone during a surgical procedure.
The outcome of an orthopaedic surgery procedure, such as a procedure to replace an orthopaedic joint prosthesis, depends on the accuracy with which the bone is prepared. Bone preparation frequently involves cutting the bone, for example using a tool such as a saw or a drill or a burr cutting tool. Accuracy requires that the cut should be located accurately and oriented accurately.
It is common to use a cutting guide to locate a cut accurately. A cutting guide can be fastened to a bone in a step to prepare the bone for the subsequent cutting step, for example by means of pins. The cutting guide provides a guide surface which can support the blade of a cutting tool during the cutting step. For example, when the cutting tool is a saw with a reciprocating blade, the guide surface will usually be planar, for example in the form of an exposed planar surface or a slot. When the cutting tool is a drill or a burr cutter with a rotating bit, the guide surface can be a bore.
It is desirable to minimise inaccuracies which result from application of a force to the cutting tool which has a component which is not parallel to the axis of the blade. Such forces can tilt a blade introducing inaccuracy into the location or orientation or both of the blade, especially when the blade is not a tight fit in a guide slot or bore. Such forces might also tend to bend the blade.